[The Walrus]

Now it's only hours till I get my hands on my new expensive toy. (Thank god not as expensive as Utopia, which is aptly named.)
Let's see how they'll compare to my Beyerdynamic T1G2 

 

[snk8699]

 
I hate to admit it, but I'm getting old.

I just happen to listen to a wide range of genres. That makes it really difficult to find a headphone that works with all of the genres.
 
Thanks for the recommendations, but I have a pair of the LCD-X and they did well for most genres, but their treble didn't quite sing. The LCD-4 was an upgrade to the LCD-X on the same order as the HD800s was an upgrade to the HD800; a slight improvement that was not worth the upgrade.
 
Three weeks ago I picked up a pair of Utopias and these handle every genre I listen to superbly. I won't be looking for an upgrade anytime soon.

 
Are you going to keep the LCD-4 and HD800S now that you've found such a adroit all-rounder in the Utopia?

 

[SearchOfSub]

Does anyone know if there are any places in CA, Los Angeles area where I can demo these?

 

[zept0sec]

Does anyone know if there are any places in CA, Los Angeles area where I can demo these?

Umm, Source AV in Torrance...

 

[SearchOfSub]

Nice!!! Will be checking these out soon. I just have this gut feeling my wallet will be $3600.00 lighter when walking out of the store.

 

[dan_can]

Don't demo it. I demoed it yesterday and I want one.

 

[SearchOfSub]

There is a Utopia line of speakers from Focal too. The Utopia lll - $180,000 a pair.

Indeed Utopia is in one of the top exclusive line of Focal sound (?). Happy listening!

 

[TimeLord]

   
Are you going to keep the LCD-4 and HD800S now that you've found such a adroit all-rounder in the Utopia?

I didn't upgrade to the LCD-4 and the HD800s; I didn't think they were worth the upgrade. I still have the LCD-X and the HD800. I'm going to keep both of them. The HD800 will be for comparison purposes and testing new gear. I'll continue to listen to the LCD-X; they have a signature that I still enjoy and the bass response on them is wonderful.

 

[snk8699]

What kind of amps work well with Utopia?  I read through the Can Jam London thread and noticed it sounded great on both solid state and tube amps, but I always take show impressions with a grain of salt for fundamental reasons.  Despite the fact that it's easy to drive and rather efficient, I'm hearing that it scales incredibly well with an amp and would like to hear some of the better combinations.

 

[x RELIC x]

What kind of amps work well with Utopia?  I read through the Can Jam London thread and noticed it sounded great on both solid state and tube amps, but I always take show impressions with a grain of salt for fundamental reasons.  Despite the fact that it's easy to drive and rather efficient, I'm hearing that it scales incredibly well with an amp and would like to hear some of the better combinations.

I wouldn't say the Utopia scales as much as I would say it reveals.

 

[TimeLord]

  What kind of amps work well with Utopia?  I read through the Can Jam London thread and noticed it sounded great on both solid state and tube amps, but I always take show impressions with a grain of salt for fundamental reasons.  Despite the fact that it's easy to drive and rather efficient, I'm hearing that it scales incredibly well with an amp and would like to hear some of the better combinations.

I have tried it with three different amps. The Oppo HA-1, Woo Audio WA7tp Fireflies, and the Cavalli Audio Liquid Gold. The HA-1 does a good enough job, but compared to the other ones it does not stand out in any way.
 
The WA7 is not as clean, clear, and resolving as the LAu, but the bass hits harder with this amp.
 
The LAu gives incredible imaging, clarity, and resolution. I can pick out and focus on any piece of the music. This is the best amp I've heard with it.

 

[TMRaven]

 
If it's one thing that I've learned, FR plots do not tell the whole story. The interesting thing about the 800 and 800s is that they do well with instrument produced bass (think cello, double bass, bass guitar, etc.). However, try listening to bass from a genre like electronica or hip hop and you can forget about bass coming from the 800s.
 
Anyway, I find all of this is now moot. Any headphone maker that is trying to compete at the top level and is still going to make flawed headphones, will no longer be competing.

 
 
That might have to do with the dynamic range and overall balance of the recording in which you hear those instruments vs the electronic songs.  I bet if you take the electronic song into audacity and analyze it, it will mostly be brickwalled, while the frequency balance will show a gradually downlsoping line.  If you analyze the particular song you hear strong bass from acoustic instruments, you might see more peaks in the waveform, and more of a drastic slope down into the mids and treble.  A lot of naturally recorded instrumentals exhibit these signs.

 

[moshen]

  No they don't, but when it comes to frequency and the depth of range, they do. Sorry, never listen to that music at all....not sure how old you are, but I'm in my mid 40s...so it's rock, metal and jazz for me. If you're looking for more oumph down low, I'd suggest you give the LCD-X/LCD-4 a try.

LOL, if you're suggesting hip-hop and electronic music are mostly for younger folks you might want to get out of your musical bubble I have extremely wide tastes including a lot of electronic and hip hop so looking forward to seeing how the Utopia does with those genres.

 

[pervysage]

 
LOL, if you're suggesting hip-hop and electronic music are mostly for younger folks you might want to get out of your musical bubble I have extremely wide tastes including a lot of electronic and hip hop so looking forward to seeing how the Utopia does with those genres.

 
When I get mine I will definitely post here on their performance on electronic, hip-hop and all that stuff because I listen to a lot.
 
My TH-900's do great with that stuff and I think Utopia will perform great as well... probably not as much bass but plenty to be happy with. And they should be a lot more balanced, detailed and resolving with other stuff I listen to.

 

[nickif]

I am using a modular Twau cable from Whiplash. Excellent presentation all the way around. Both the cable and the Utopia need more burn in time but the comfort alone is worth it over the stock cable. In the end though, I have used Twau with other headphones and I have found it gets you closer to the music with a clean frequency response. Violins are pure beauty with the right sweet sound (I used to play one). 

Thanks, I've ordered Dana ref to have a try